Time after Time
by hyacinthian
Summary: Mulder and Scully re-visit their past lives through dreams when on a case, where there have been mysterious disappearances. After admitting their feelings, there is one thing that threatens to tear them apart. This case. [MSR] Please r/r!


Scully Castle September 14, 1709  
  
Lady Katherine Scully brushed her ravishing red hair behind her as she sat on the beautifully crafted piano bench, unnoticing the dozens of people waltzing behind her. She sat and she let her fingers carry her, the beautiful flowing music coming naturally. "Mother!" cried a voice.  
  
She turned to see her little six-year-old daughter running around. She had bright red hair like herself. Her daughter was a reflection of beauty itself. "Yes?" she replied, picking her darling daughter up to sit in her lap.  
  
"Mother, there's a man here to see you," her daughter told her. She just smiled knowingly as someone tapped her shoulder. She turned to see a man with dark, graying hair with a distinguished smile and bright, shining eyes.  
  
"Lady Scully," he greeted, bowing.  
  
"Ah. And who might you be?" she asked, politely.  
  
"I am Sir Francis Mulder from Wales," he answered.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Sir Mulder."  
  
"The feeling is mutual, Lady Scully."  
  
She scoffed. "My husband gets all the attention, rather", she sighed. "I am but a sketch of something to enhance his image."  
  
"I doubt that."  
  
"Really?" she asked, with a look of astonishment on her pale face.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Would you like to join me for tea tomorrow?" she offered.  
  
"It would be my pleasure, Lady Scully. I'll look forward to seeing you then. Until we meet again. Here," he replied, offering her a red rose.  
  
"Thank you. I shall see you tomorrow then, Sir Mulder."  
  
He bowed to her again as he so mysteriously exited the ball as he mysteriously entered. Her husband walked over and grasped her arm fiercely. "Who was he?!" her husband yelled in fury. He was an overly jealous character.  
  
"No one you should worry about," she sniffed, walking away. He grasped her arm furiously and he slapped her across the cheek. The sound resounded across the room. The red mark on her cheek and the tears streaming down her face were the only evidence it had happened, along with several hundred witnesses. She stormed off as proudly as she could, holding back all the other tears.  
  
He ran after her to apologize but the damage had been done. She kept walking and was determined not to let her emotions get the best of her. She was going to have tea with that Sir Mulder tomorrow and she was going to have a good time. What she didn't expect was that she was going to fall head over heels for him.  
  
She walked up to the ivory tower that she called her bedroom. She sat down on her canopy bed and she glanced around the room. She lit a candle and walked around. The room was beautiful, in a simple way. She heaved a deep sigh and she laid down on the silky sheets and slowly drifted off to sleep.  
  
Miller Hotel Comet Hollow, California 7: 49 pm  
  
"Scully!" cried a voice. Her eyes fluttered open.  
  
"Mulder? What's going on?" she answered.  
  
"Remember? We're in Comet Hollow to investigate a missing person's case?" he informed her.  
  
Her eyes snapped open in remembrance. "Case! I knew that," she yawned, tiredly. "I just had the strangest dream."  
  
"Really?" he asked, interested. "What'd you dream about?"  
  
"Me. I was an important colonial figure, apparently. I was married to some Lord of something and I was really important", she explained.  
  
"You said that already, go on," he urged.  
  
"Well, apparently, you were there also. You were someone important too, apparently, because I called you 'Sir Mulder'," she continued, drumming her fingers noisily on the table.  
  
"Sir Mulder?" he reiterated, thoughtfully. "I could learn to like that."  
  
Her face changed into a horrific frown and his into a smirk. "Tell me you're not serious!" she cried, bewildered.  
  
"I'm not," he replied.  
  
She heaved a sigh of relief. She drummed her fingers noisily again. "Can you work on the report while I go back to sleep?" she whined.  
  
"Sure," he relented, grinning.  
  
"Thanks," she murmured.  
  
She walked to her bed and plopped down on it and pulled the covers up to her chin and sighed in contentment. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep again.  
  
Scully Castle September 16, 1709  
  
"Nice to see you for tea, Lady Scully," Sir Mulder greeted.  
  
"Oh, believe me, it was my pleasure," she returned. "Florence!"  
  
A maid with untidy hair walked out, carrying a silver platter with a porcelain china teapot along with matching teacups. There was also a porcelain china holder containing sugar and a miniature size pitcher holding some cream.  
  
"Tea?" she offered, grasping the teapot's handle.  
  
"That's why we're here," he responded, receiving a small smile from her.  
  
She poured him a cup. "Do you take cream or sugar?" she asked, setting down the teapot to pick up the container of sugar.  
  
"Both," he answered, sincerely.  
  
She handed him the cream and he added his preference into his tea, making it a creamy light brown. "How many lumps of sugar?"  
  
"I prefer five," he answered.  
  
"Five?!" she reiterated, shocked.  
  
"What can I say? I have a sweet tooth," he admitted.  
  
She shrugged her shoulders unknowingly and added the exact amount of sugar her guest wanted in his tea. She added cream and sugar to her own and stirred the tea. "Where are you from?" she asked.  
  
"I'm Lord Francis Mulder of Wales," he replied, justly, sipping at his searing hot tea.  
  
"Ah," she replied, touching her chin. "Have you any children?"  
  
"None. I need to find a wife first. My parents are dead, and I rule fair and just," he boasted, proudly.  
  
She snorted. He stared at her as she annoyingly brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes. Emily, her little five-year-old, ran up to her, though and clung to her like no tomorrow. "Child!" she clucked, surprised.  
  
"Mother! Help me!" cried Emily.  
  
"Help you? From what?" she asked, concerned.  
  
"Father," she gravely answered.  
  
As she set her child down, she bustled about and accidentally, their lips brushed together. Katherine received a jolt of passion as she did so. That was something she had never felt when her husband had kissed her.  
  
"May we leave with you and stay with you for a while?" she asked.  
  
"Sure," he grinned.  
  
A few weeks later, Katherine Scully felt coarse hands at her arm. They pulled her out of bed. She opened her eyes slowly. It was her husband's guards. Her daughter and Lord Mulder were missing also. They pulled her into a carriage and they drove off to the Town Square. They placed her in the stocks, while she saw the greater picture. Lord Mulder was being situated to be executed. His head was placed in the headrest as the axe came down quickly. His head rolled off of his head as Katherine closed her eyes. The townspeople cheered wildly.  
  
"Get her out of here!" cried her husband, angrily. She felt a pair of coarse hands grasp her arms as they released her from the stocks. "Take her to the castle!"  
  
She was thrust into the carriage and the horses neighed with anger. They started off quickly. When she arrived at the castle, her husband was already there and he was walking back and forth. They threw her out of their hands with the utmost force and she fell. Her husband chuckled an evil laugh. "Pathetic," he told, pointing at her, as he withdrew his sword. "Your life was pathetic." He thrust his sword through her abdomen as she winced in pain. He withdrew the sword as her wound bled freely. Her eyes fluttered and soon, they closed forever.  
  
Comet Hollow 2:30 am  
  
Scully awoke with a loud gasp, sweat dripping from her forehead. Mulder turned on the lamp beside him and rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Scully, what's wrong?" he asked, yawning. "Did you have a nightmare?"  
  
"Yeah", she replied, simply. "A nightmare."  
  
Unfortunately, she couldn't bring herself to believe that it was just a nightmare. It was too real to be a dream. Maybe she would go to get her dream analyzed. "Now you're acting crazy. It was just a dream, Dana," she told herself, mentally. She closed her eyes and laid back on the pillow and drifted off to sleep again. "Tomorrow," she thought. "Tomorrow, I will think this dream or nightmare through."  
  
The next morning, she awoke with a start. For some strange reason, she just sat up in the middle of the night (before the sun had risen) and gasped. It was a strange feeling. Seeing that it was almost 7:00, she walked over and prepared some coffee for herself. Taking a sip, she sighed in relaxation. Mulder awoke soon after. He looked so cute, his hair ruffled with the unmistakable mark of unprecedented sleep and rubbing his eyes like a five-year-old.  
  
"He is like a little five-year-old boy", Scully amusingly thought to herself. "The same vulnerability, but the same unquenched thirst for something. The same humorous look and the same humorous appeal."  
  
The list rolled off of her mind immediately. She paused for a second, however, to ponder how she knew him so well. She told herself that it was just because she had been his partner for such a long time.  
  
"What time is it?" he asked, getting up.  
  
"It's around seven-fifteen," she answered. "Anyway, how late did you stay up last night with the case file?"  
  
"About one 'o' clock. You know, I think these disappearances are linked to astral projection or something," he replied, stretching.  
  
"Astral projection?" she asked, amusingly. "Pray tell."  
  
"Astral projection is when the spirit leaves it's physical body and walks around on its own. This, in itself, is quite interesting. I think that the girls were unknowingly astral projecting in their sleep, and lapsing into past lives", he paused, noticing Scully's blank look.  
  
"Lapsing into past lives?" she reiterated, shocked. "You think these girls were zapped back, suddenly, into their past lives?!"  
  
"No, listen. Past lives are an opinion, you can believe it or disbelieve it, but if you believe it, the chances you re-visit your past life or lives in your dreams are more realistic than going back any given time elsewhere. You can find out your past life through hypnotism too, but that might have some effects to it," he argued. "Maybe that strange dream you had was your own lapse back into a past life!"  
  
"Mulder, I think you're suffering from sleep deprivation!" she stated bluntly. "Go get some sleep."  
  
He tossed a small pillow at her playfully. "All right. I won't deny that I'm ready to collapse from tiredness," he yawned.  
  
He crawled back into the bed and he closed his eyes. Within a few minutes, Scully could hear his rhythmic breathing, see the rise and fall of his chest, and every so often hear a minor snore emanating from him. She laughed quietly to herself. She reached and got her laptop and set it up on the table, while pulling the case file (which was lying on the counter) closer to her, so she could read it. She pushed a button on her laptop which booted it up while she opened the file. Within minutes, her computer was at the desktop. She double-clicked on Internet Explorer and her home page popped up. Her home page was the FBI's secret website. She logged in and she entered in the case number. The X-File Archive came up. She clicked on a link to the Police's general archive of people.  
  
"Anna Nichols, 13-years-old disappeared on May 14th, 1999. She was found dead a few months later, in her bedroom. Jessica Smith, 15-years-old disappeared on August 14th, 1999. She was found dead a few months later, in her bedroom. Eliana Jameson, 17-years-old disappeared on October 14th, 1999. She, too, was found dead a few months later in her bedroom," she read. "So, Mulder withheld a few details from me in this case."  
  
She clicked on the tiny window and entered the first name. "Nichols, Anna", she spoke as she typed the name. This entire giant window popped up with a biography and picture. She read the biography. "Anna Lisa Nichols. Born May 14th, 1986. Died May 14th, 1999. Age: 13. Lived in Comet Hollow, California. Attended Mayfair Junior High School. Her hobbies include", Scully paused at that line in the paragraph and closed the window. "Like her hobbies do me a whole lot of good." She heard a slight groaning coming from Mulder and glanced over at him, squirming.  
  
Stars Valley, Pennsylvania May 3, 1931  
  
"Papa!" cries a little girl, running down a hill. She runs all the way to the shop where her father is and he picks her up in joy, before doing the fatherly thing.  
  
"Dana! You could've hurt yourself!" Franklin Mulder scolded.  
  
"But papa!" she whined.  
  
"Let's go see Mama, ok?" he suggested.  
  
"No. Please no!" she begged, clutching him tightly.  
  
He walked over, with Dana in his arms, to see Diana. "Franklin!" she cried, happily, followed with a scornful greeting for the child. "Dana."  
  
Dana burrowed her head in her father's arm at her mother's hatred- filled greeting for her. Her red hair shook from side to side as the child cried.  
  
"Diana", he replied, with sadness in his voice. "Must you be so cruel to the child?"  
  
"You named that child after the one woman I hate and the one woman you love," she countered, turning her head as if not to view them both.  
  
"You killed her, Diana, because I was torn between you two", he paused. "So that I would have no choice but to marry you."  
  
"That was of my doing. But, of course, I find out soon after that you and her shared a child. Dana", she sniffed, scornfully.  
  
"You're her step-mother. You portray the role of an evil stepmother quite beautifully," he snapped, while trying to soothe his child.  
  
"How would it look on your record", she paused to press her finger against his chest to try to intimidate him, "if you had two potential mates dead?" She enunciated the d-word.  
  
"Daddy, can I have some chocolate?" Dana innocently asked.  
  
"Sure, baby", he replied, paying a chocolate vendor for a chocolate bar. He helped her unwrap the top. She picked off a piece and placed it in her mouth. Glancing down, she saw a little girl wearing rags with tussled hair with a pale face and was very thin. It was the Great Depression, after all, and she was extremely lucky that her father was able to have a job and be able to provide for them. She broke off a piece of chocolate and handed it to the little girl. The little girl, with tears in her eyes, began to profusely thank the child.  
  
"God Bless You, Dear!" cried the girl .  
  
"I will not argue with you on this matter, Diana," he stiffly answered.  
  
"Dana!" scolded Diana. "You wasted your father's money on some stranger?!"  
  
"She did a good deed, Diana. She should be congratulated," he answered.  
  
He set Dana down and he linked Dana's hand to Diana's. "Learn to get along," he commanded. He walked a bit further than they.  
  
"Don't mess with me, child. I'll get you," she hissed. Dana, who was extremely frightened at this moment, pulled her hand out of her stepmother's hand and ran ahead to her father.  
  
Comet Hollow 1:30 am  
  
Scully ran her fingers through her hair tiredly as she turned to face the laptop again. All these girls had been murdered by some inexplicable way and they were found dead in their bedrooms a few months later. Also, each girl had been murdered on their date of birth. What psychopath would do this?  
  
Mulder snapped up out of bed with a large gasp. Scully turned around to view him. He was clutching his chest and breathing heavily. "Mulder, are you okay? Should I call an ambulance?" she asked, worried.  
  
"I'll be fine. Just a little dream I had. Anyway, you've been going over the case files?" he asked, surprised.  
  
"Yeah," she replied, rubbing her temples. "It doesn't make sense. All the girls were found dead in their bedrooms, in a sleeping position, with their eyes closed and all the girls disappeared on their birthdays."  
  
"God, my dream was so real. Surreal, I guess," he mumbled.  
  
"What was your dream about?" she asked, embracing the chance to talk about something other than a case file.  
  
"That's it!" he replied, his face brightening. "Scully! Scully, that's it! That's the key to this entire thing. Dreams. Do you think you can access the police reports or the parents to find out exactly when they were taken? Like, the time?"  
  
"The time? Mulder, I guess, but why?" she immediately asked, confused.  
  
"No questions. Find the information and then, call me. I'll be at the library," he quickly informed, grabbing his cell phone.  
  
He raced out the door before she could get another word out. "Dreams are the entire key to this case?" she questioningly restated. She gave a deep sigh of utter confusion and tiredness and faced her laptop. "God, I wonder if FBI agents associated with the X-Files are allowed to retire early and get a higher pension."  
  
She clicked on something and entered in the police file search: time of death or disappearance of girls. She clicked on the window underneath that one. "X-File Case # 20X37A," she spoke aloud as she typed. "Time of disappearance", she paused to scroll down. "10:00 for all of them. Hmm."  
  
Comet Hollow Public Library 5:30 PM  
  
Mulder spun into a parking space with the eloquence of a panther. He got out and he swiftly ran up the stairs and entered the library. "Where's your reference section?" he asked a nearby librarian.  
  
"On the third floor," she answered, not looking up from her computer.  
  
He muttered a quick note of gratitude and entered the elevator. Seeing that it was cramped with passengers, he ran off towards the stairs. He ran up one flight to the second floor and another to the third. He found an unused computer and raced to it. Double-clicking on the library's archive icon, he typed in "dream-stealers" in the blank window and hit Enter. A list of results popped up. He double clicked the first one, wrote down the call number, and proceeded to search for it. He found the massive book and he bought the book. "No use trying to remember when to return it," he told himself.  
  
He raced off toward the car when his phone rang. He tossed the book in the passenger seat and he clicked his phone on. "Mulder," he answered.  
  
"Mulder, I found the time of disappearance. Where are you?" asked Scully.  
  
"I'm on my way back. Don't go anywhere. I found a book on what I think may have been the cause of death."  
  
"Okay. Bye", she answered, sighing.  
  
"Bye."  
  
He clicked the phone off and tossed it in the passenger seat. He inserted the key inside the ignition and sped off. He arrived at the Motel a few short minutes later. He grabbed the book and his cell phone and ran off towards his room. He tried the door. It was locked. He knocked sharply. The door swung open to reveal Scully. "Why didn't you use your key?" she asked.  
  
"I didn't want to fumble around in my pocket for it when you could just open the door for me," he chided, grinning.  
  
She made a tiny whimper and she walked over to the table. "So what is your almighty reference on this topic? What is your idea? What do dreams have to do with it?" she asked, impatiently.  
  
"Be patient, Scully. Seek and ye shall find," he chimed.  
  
"Patience is a virtue that I lost many years ago."  
  
He emitted a slight chuckle and opened the book to read her a passage. "Dream stealers are members of a Satanic cult which believe dreams contain the essence of a person. During someone's dream, they enter the victim's dream telekinetically to kill the person in their dream. Dreams reflect someone's self-conscious, meaning if you died in your dreams, you might possibly die in your sleep from inexplicable reasons. Further, the dream-stealers then steal the victim's lifeless body to perform a ritual on it. They sacrifice the already dead (or sometimes live) person and stitch the person up and return it to their original bedroom, where they died. They make it appear like they were asleep. They kidnap potential victims on their birthday because that is when the 'essence' of a person is most strong according to demonologists," he read.  
  
Her mouth hung open in disbelief. "Dream-stealers?" she repeated. "Dream-stealers?! Demonologists?"  
  
"It's possible, Scully. Do you deny that they died from inexplicable reasons?"  
  
"No, but", he interrupted her again.  
  
"Do you deny that they were kidnapped?"  
  
"No, but", he again interrupted her.  
  
"Do you deny that they were all kidnapped at 3?"  
  
"No, but", he interrupted her.  
  
"So, don't deny the irrational side of the equation. Don't let order and rules reign supreme in your life all the time. Let a little craziness get in too."  
  
"All right," she sighed. "So what do we do?"  
  
"Well, I'm suggesting that we sleep in and then we check to see if there's any good Satanic cults nearby."  
  
"Hear, hear."  
  
They both snaked into their own beds and closed their eyes and slowly drifted off into slumber. Mulder fell asleep a few minutes after Scully did.  
  
Stars Valley, Pennsylvania 1931 11:30 PM  
  
"This will teach you to mess with me!" she cried, tying Dana up and double knotting her knots. "Don't mess with me!"  
  
She crazily cast the child a sympathetic glance before tossing her in the ocean. "No!" cried a voice from behind her. "Diana, you cruel, evil woman."  
  
She laughed a cruel, heartless cackle. "I'm guessing I have to take care of you too, considering I'd get locked in jail if anyone ever testified against me," she informed, emitting a psychotic chuckle. His eyes were pools of gray as he descended upon her.  
  
"What did I ever see in you?" he asked.  
  
"Who knows?" she replied, shrugging her shoulders. She grasped his arm and using some of her leftover rope, tied him up. She led him to a chair and sat him down.  
  
"Are you going to toss me into the ocean also?" he asked, with contempt in his voice.  
  
"No. I'm bored with that scene," she answered, grinning. "I think I'll go for cold, bloody murder. I'm getting chills just talking about it.  
  
She led him to a nearby building and tied him to a chair. She unsheathed a dagger she hid in her pocket. "I want you to die quickly, unlike your daughter." She glanced at the dagger and Mulder saw the dagger glimmer in the little light that he had. She held it in her hand and she poised it. "Good-bye, my love", she murmured before plunging the cold steel into his chest. With a groan of pain, he sank.  
  
Comet Hollow  
  
Mulder sat up with a gasp and glanced at the clock. 7:00 am. It was midnight or close to three 'o' clock in the morning last he checked. How was it 7:00 am? "Mulder, you're awake?" Scully asked, emitting a groan alongside a yawn. "How'd you have such self-control to wake yourself up so early?"  
  
"I have no idea. You know what? I had the strangest dream."  
  
"Me too. I've been having these weird dreams. Always you and me in them."  
  
"Same here. And I always die in these dreams."  
  
"Yeah, me too."  
  
"Want me to make some coffee?" Mulder offered.  
  
"Please?" she politely answered.  
  
"You know what I think?" he asked.  
  
"What?" she answered, getting up and making her bed.  
  
"I think these dreams are reflections of our past lives. It's been said before. Dreams can reflect past lives, can't they?" he told her.  
  
"Past lives? What exactly are our past lives trying to tell us?" she asked, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.  
  
"I don't know. Past lives sometimes haunt people's present lives for specific reasons. Whether it be love, a hidden inheritance, a long-lost relative, or something," he explained.  
  
"Love? Are you saying that our past lives are trying to tell us that we love each other? That we're soulmates or something?" she inquired.  
  
"Well, for four years, I neglected to tell you that I do love you," he sheepishly admitted. "But, you know I'd understand if you didn't feel the same."  
  
Her mouth hung open in shock. "You love me?" she asked, quietly. She stuttered a bit before she could say something. "I always loved you but I was thinking that you would never want to love me."  
  
It was his turn to be shocked. "How could you say that?" he asked. He pressed his lips against hers in a passionate way and when they pulled away, she felt so exhilarated from the high of the kiss.  
  
"Wow," was all she could muster herself to say.  
  
He emitted a low chuckle before his face turned all serious. "Scully, let's get married!" he admitted, suddenly.  
  
"What about the rules?" she asked.  
  
"Screw the rules. What do you say?"  
  
"Sure, but let's figure this out first. Then, we can make wedding arrangements before we tell Skinner. If he was nice, he might even not fire us."  
  
Mulder gave a snort. He linked his arm with Scully's and they walked out of the doorway and into the town. "Let's investigate this one house that's right by a church."  
  
They got into his car and he brought the book for reference. He drove off toward the nearby street. He saw the large blue house and thought, "That's the house. Here's the church."  
  
"Well, here we are. Let's go around the house and see what we can find," proposed Scully, with a smile.  
  
They walked around the house, picking up miscellaneous things they thought were important to the case when Mulder stumbled onto something quite important. "Scully! Look at this!" he cried. She came around to where he was and he showed her a cross. Instead of Christ being crucified, however, there was a devil, hanging upside down on the cross with a large grin on its face, which was an important keepsake of a Satanist.  
  
"Let's interview Anna Nichol's parents," he told her, before stepping onto the porch and knocking. A middle-aged woman with blonde hair answered the door.  
  
The Nichols' House Comet Hollow  
  
"Yes?" she asked.  
  
"I'm Agent Mulder with the FBI and this is Agent Scully," he said, routinely, flipping out his badge for them to see. "We'd like to interview you two."  
  
"What? For what reason?!" the lady yelled. She was obviously angered.  
  
"About your daughter."  
  
"Oh. Her."  
  
Mulder cast a glance to Scully. "Would you excuse us a second, Mrs. Nichols?" Mulder stated quickly, walking to the side as the front door slammed shut. "Scully, did you hear her?! 'Oh. Her.' That's not the tone you use when your daughter was brutally murdered."  
  
"I agree, but what do you think?" she asked.  
  
"This crucifix was found out on their property and they didn't care much about their daughter. Apparently. So, what I'm saying is that I think that these people were Satanists and they sacrificed their daughter."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Scully, go to the Town Hall. See if you can dig up ANYTHING at all about this town. The religion of everyone. I haven't seen any Christian churches anywhere. Except for the one across the street, but it looks too freaky to be Christian. Go!" he whispered, before knocking on the door again as she ran off.  
  
"Yes?" answered a middle-aged man.  
  
"Like I have told your wife, I am here to interview you two on the murder of your daughter, Anna Nichols."  
  
"Murder? I wouldn't exactly call it that," he admitted.  
  
"What would you call it then? Your daughter disappears in the middle of the night, reappears a few months later, and is dead! What would you call it?!" he yelled, brashly.  
  
"Sacrifice. They sacrificed her. The entire town. We had to give her up along with the rest of the girls," the man sobbed. "I'm sorry."  
  
"Oh my God," Mulder breathed, shocked. "You mean, this entire town is filled up with Satanists? You sacrificed these girls?! For what?!"  
  
"The minister leads the town in sacrificing the townspeople's daughters in order to be closer with the Devil and to give him more power," he explained. "We're not going to get in trouble, are we?"  
  
"Like hell, you're not!" he exclaimed. "You're going to be charged with three accounts of murder, at least!"  
  
"I wouldn't meddle into their affairs. They'll get you, one way or another. Here", he replied, handing him a book. "Read."  
  
"Okay. Thanks, I guess. What's it about?"  
  
"They'll be coming for us. Be careful," he warned. On that cynical note, the man slammed the door on him. He emitted a deep, low sigh and walked to his car. He tossed the book inside, where it toppled on top of the other book. He grasped his cell phone impatiently and he dialed the number for Scully's cell phone.  
  
"Scully," a strained voice greeting him.  
  
"You'll never guess what I found," he teased.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"This man confessed to having sacrificed all the townspeople's daughters to the Devil for the minister across the street to get more power and to be closer with the Devil and I have it on tape," he informed, quietly. He was getting a mysterious feeling he was being watched.  
  
"Really?!" she asked, shocked. "Well, I looked up the town records. Not one child has ever been baptized in this town or is there a Christian church or anything. Looks like this town might be full of Satanists."  
  
"The Nichols, Anna Nichol's parents, they handed me a book and told me to read. They told me that they would be coming for them," he informed, ominously.  
  
"They? Who's they?" she replied.  
  
"I have no idea. Meet me at the motel, ok?" he suggested.  
  
"Got it. Bye."  
  
"Bye." Mulder clicked his phone off and tossed it in the passenger seat where it made a resounding thud. He started the car and drove off, noticing a man left behind in the dust storm he had made when he skittered off quickly. "That's strange," he mumbled to himself.  
  
He arrived at the motel before Scully. He turned on the bedside lamp and he positioned himself in a way where he could read. "Nishi and Nala", he began, "were identical twin sisters born under a mountain of faith. One was born to the left and one was born to the right. To the left was a village of evil crones, calling demons to do their bidding. To the right was a village of angels, people who obeyed the calling of God. Nishi was born on the left and Nala was born on the right. Nala was raised in a village of love while Nishi was taught to dig deep within herself to find the hatred. Nishi and Nala were the best of friends, even though they were complete opposites. It is said that the Devil possesses Nishi and God possesses Nala. One subject to Satanic ritual may cause the two to enter the soul in order for the victim to see visions. Two victims is the usual case, one for Nishi and one for Nala. If they love one another, it is wonderful for the minister performing the ritual as he does not have to do anything. He may watch as their love for one another causes one to kill the other, out of their vision from Nishi," he read.  
  
"What?" asked Scully, just entering.  
  
He re-read the passage. "So, what do you think about this, Scully?"  
  
"I think", she paused, "that what you're reading is trash."  
  
"It's the World Book Encyclopedia, Scully. Dare go up against an encyclopedia? I think not," he teased.  
  
"Anyway", she drawled, trying to get off the subject, "I think we should investigate the Church. It looks friendly enough, but I believe that it's sincerely hiding some evil."  
  
"Let's go, Bonnie," he joked.  
  
"After you, Clyde," she continued, kissing him lightly on the lips. He looked a little taken aback, but he continued walking until he collided with the front of the car. "Keep your eyes front, Mulder, so you don't have to crash into anything else."  
  
He grinned as he stepped into the car and sat in the passenger seat. She sat in the driver's seat and adjusted her seat so she could reach the pedals. "Told ya you couldn't reach the pedals," he teased, grinning. She gave him a playful smack on the arm as she drove out of the parking lot and onto the open Comet Hollow road.  
  
"They're here, just as I said they'd be," the minister emitted a low, evil chuckle. He made a waving motion with his fingers and three men, all dressed in black, walked through the door. One cocked his gun, while the other prepared his syringe while the last pounded his fist against his other hand.  
  
Mulder and Scully got out of the car and started walking, when the noticed the three men walking towards them. They raised their guns defensively and fired a few rounds, but they appeared to be unfazed, even though some of the bullets struck their chest cavity.  
  
"Foolish mortals. The Devil gave us powerful invincibility in order for us to sacrifice the both of you," the one man stated to them ominously.  
  
They looked at each other when Mulder felt something foreign pierce his arm. The syringe had a strong sedative and he collapsed immediately and the man who had the syringe dragged him towards the church.  
  
"MULDER!" shrieked Scully, in a last, desperate attempt to awaken him, but it was too late. He was too far gone. The one man approached her and punched her and she lay, writhing on the ground, and he knew that she was too weak to defend herself. He grasped her arm roughly and dragged her toward the church.  
  
"Release Nishi and Nala," the minister ordered. The men shuffled around and the sound of jars being uncapped resounded as the look at the two bright blue gases entered through the victims ears. "Special Agent Mulder got Nishi. You don't need to tie him down, but Special Agent Scully needs the restraints. Mulder will help us kill her soon enough."  
  
The gas fizzled as it snaked around the cracks and crevices of his ear as his brain soaked the gas up like a sponge. Mulder's eyes flickered open. He was in DC. He was in his office. He heard giggling in the other room. He walked towards the door and cracked it open an inch. Scully was standing there, pressing the delete button repeatedly. Those were the files of cases he had solved! She was deleting them?! As he began to get up and walk over to her and demand what she was doing, Skinner entered. Scully bit her lip nervously.  
  
"Well, how's it going?" he asked.  
  
"Great, hon."  
  
"Hon?" he mumbled to himself.  
  
"Wonderful," Skinner mumbled, nibbling at her neck.  
  
"She isn't even stopping him! This must've been going on for how long?! She said she loved me! The little liar!" he angrily muttered to himself. He could've sworn he heard a voice saying to him, "Yes. Envelop yourself in the darkness, the hatred. She betrayed you."  
  
"You want to know what the best part is?" she asked, cocking her head to one side.  
  
"What?" Skinner whispered.  
  
"He never even suspected us. He thought I was going to help him find his sister. I was no where close to revealing to him that we know where she is RIGHT now", she laughed heartily, "and he thinks I love him! What an idiot! He thinks we're able to be trusted. I told him I loved him and he bought it!"  
  
Mulder felt his blood boil in his veins. His head was throbbing and he felt so angry. "Let your primitive instincts take over, Fox," the gas hissed in his ear. The gas escaped through his ears again and the men trapped the gas back in the jar. They screwed the cap back on and smiled.  
  
"He should awaken within a few minutes and then he'll be like putty in our hands," the minister cackled. "Hand me a cigarette, please."  
  
The man obliged and even lit it for him. He took the cigarette happily. Mulder stirred and his eyes flickered open. "Where am I?" he groaned, rubbing his arm.  
  
"Agent Mulder. Take a look around, what do you see?" the minister asked in a taunting tone, as he blew out smoke through his pursed lips.  
  
"Her," he hissed. "What is she doing here?"  
  
However, Scully was just receiving her vision. The gas sunk into the cracks and crevices of her mind. "Open your heart," it whispered.  
  
Scully found herself in a large, spacious church. She found the whole left section occupied with members of the Bureau. The right section was filled with close family and friends, including her mother. These people were all dressed formally. She took a seat in the right section. She found the wooden bench uncomfortable. "At least I'll fit in with my suit," she told herself mentally. And then she saw him. "Mulder?"  
  
He was standing at the front, alongside a minister. The minister was smiling and Mulder was grinning. The pianist let her fingers glide over the facsimile ivory keys. Beautiful music poured from the instrument and the violins and violas chimed in also, giving a royal air to the room. The doors opened and she saw her brother, with his arm linked next to someone. "God! Who is it? Who's marrying Mulder?" she prodded her own thoughts. She glanced at the woman and she gasped, the sharp intake of air from everyone else concealing her very own. "It's me," she whispered, quietly.  
  
Her red hair was done up in a beautiful way, though it was held together by a mass expanse of clips and barrettes. She saw a few curls dangling by her cheeks, though, and she had to grin. The dress was absolutely beautiful. It was a blanched white color, but it appeared off-white sort of. It appeared to be a mixed color, a beautiful, though different, shade of white, in some strange way. The dress hung on her upper arms elegantly and it draped over her feet by a few inches. The train completed the whole ensemble, trailing behind her, making her look like royalty herself and Mulder wasn't badly dressed either. She thought she would never see the day when Mulder would stand up by an altar, dressed up in a tight tuxedo, with brightly polished black shoes and gelled back hair. She watched herself and Mulder exchange rings and kiss, the showers of rice cascading against the brick wall as they exited. She followed the rush of people toward the reception. She saw them cut the cake before she was zapped back into reality.  
  
Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself restrained against a wooden table. She struggled but the leather straps were too tight. She looked up into the eyes of her former partner, but he seemed distant, different.  
  
"Mulder, help me!" she begged. He just gave her a lopsided grin and kept staring at her. "Please! Help!"  
  
"Why?" he asked. "Did you think of anyone but yourself when you were deleting those case files? When you told Skinner what a fool I was, led in by your lies and your charm, making me believe that you loved me? No, Scully. I can't help you. Not this time."  
  
"Mulder!" she shrieked. "Please?!" He turned on his heel and walked over towards the minister and she started to sob.  
  
"Give her a gag. I'm sick and tired of hearing her whining!" Mulder complained, and the minister obliged.  
  
She squirmed and she started to wriggle. She spat the simple cloth gag off of her mouth and spoke a simple sentence. "I saw our wedding!" she yelled. "I saw it, Mulder! You were so handsome."  
  
"Compliments ain't gonna get you nowhere, Scully. Nice try to suck up before your pitiful death, but you know, I gotta draw the line somewhere," he replied, giving her a look of complete empathy.  
  
"Mulder, listen to me! You aren't yourself! Look into my eyes!" she commanded, and he obliged. "I love you. You love me. I don't love anyone else. We were gonna get married, remember?"  
  
"Marriage," he mumbled. "Marry Scully?"  
  
"Yeah," she choked back a sob. "You were gonna marry me."  
  
He untied the gag and he kissed her cheek compassionately until the minister piped up. "You see what she's doing to you, Agent Mulder?! She's making you fall in love with her again so that she can trick you. To capture you," he spoke quickly and clearly. His eyes changed back into the dull gray that was not his own.  
  
"That's right!" he cried, slapping her across the face. "You little brat! Trying to get me back to where you had me! You're not going to do it again!"  
  
She sobbed into her shoulder and her cries were muffled as the gag was resituated on her mouth again. She wriggled her ankle out and bumped Mulder's kneecap. She spat out the gag as hard as she could. "Look at me! I would never do anything to hurt you," she spoke, her eyes gazing at him with a look of pure innocence. "I love you."  
  
"I love you too," he pronounced, slowly.  
  
"She's doing it again!" the minister declared, fearing that his hold on Mulder was beginning to wear thin.  
  
"That's right!" he scowled.  
  
"Kill her before she kills your sister!" the minister cried.  
  
He was given a dagger and he unsheathed the weapon, the metal glimmering in the light. Scully looked on in fear. "Good-bye, you treacherous, traitorous, lying bitch," he mumbled, thrusting the dagger into her stomach. With a cry of anguish, her blood stained the wooden table she was tied to.  
  
"Mulder," she said, her words slurring slightly. "I love you."  
  
He snapped back into reality and gazed down at Scully. Wounded and slightly drifting in and out of consciousness, she looked very vulnerable. The minister and his followers, except one (who stayed behind to guard Scully and Mulder), left to gather materials needed for the ritual. Mulder untied Scully and picked her delicate frame in his coarse hands. The guard had watched him do this, however, and was blocking the door way. Mulder, the extra adrenaline pumping throughout his system, launched a puissant kick to break the man's jaw. Running as the guard lay on the ground, writhing in pain, he reached the car. He gently placed her in the backseat and he got in the driver's seat. He got in and skittered off to a shaky start. The screeching tires burst him ahead onto the road, however, and he drove towards the nearest big hospital.  
  
San Francisco County Hospital admitted her into the emergency room as he nervously paced around the waiting room. A nurse had even told him to take a minor sedative to relax his nerves because he was irking her. He declined her suggestion and he sat down, nervously drumming her fingers on the table. The nurse cast him another annoyed glance, when the doctor entered.  
  
"Who brought in Ms. Dana Scully?" asked the doctor.  
  
"I did!" he cried, jumping up.  
  
"May I speak with you in private?" Mulder gave a deft nod and followed the doctor out into a private area. "Ms. Scully's injuries are not terribly severe, but there is a slight chance she could develop a hematoma and her injuries might evolve into something more severe. She's stabilized, for the moment, but she's still unconscious and hopefully, she might wake up within the next few days. Would you like to go see her?"  
  
Mulder could only nod. The lump in his throat grew larger by the minute. He walked into the private room that Scully had received for treatment. Like the doctor had previously stated, she was unconscious, but she was also attached to about a million different machines. She had IV's sticking out of her everywhere. There was a chair by her bed, so Mulder sat in it and inched closer to her. He let out a cry of despair and sorrow and started to sob by her. "Scully," he stuttered. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do this to you. I love you, Scully." He started sobbing harder and he lifted his face and started to stroke her hair back in soothing strokes. "Wake up, Scully. Wake up, for me. Get better, for me."  
  
With that, he got up and decided to get out of the hospital. Give his emotions and tear glands a break, notify Skinner of what had happened, and get those sons-of-bitches over in Comet Hollow what they deserve.  
  
He grabbed his cell phone and dialed Skinner's number. "Skinner," answered a baritone voice he recognized.  
  
"It's Mulder."  
  
"Where's Scully?" his protective voice began to worry Mulder.  
  
"She got wounded. She's at San Francisco County Hospital. The sons-of- bitches who made me do this to her live in Comet Hollow. Satanists, every last one of them. Made me hurt her. Made me see things other than the truth," he started to cry. "God, do something." He pushed the button to click the phone off. He walked back into the hospital and back into Scully's room. He sat bedside and laid his head on her arm and slowly drifted off to sleep.  
  
"Mulder? Aw," she made an amused tone. He was asleep on her arm. How adorable. He looked so sweet. "I better not rain on his parade."  
  
"Scully?" he yawned. "Scully? You're awake? Oh, thank God. I'm so sorry, Scully." He started to cry again.  
  
"I know you are, Mulder. It wasn't you. It was Nishi. She was controlling your thoughts. It's okay now, Mulder. It's okay," she soothed, hugging him.  
  
"Scully, I was so worried." He began to sob again and they just sat there, in that position, him pouring his emotions and apologies out and her comforting him.  
  
"So, when do we tell Skinner?" Scully made an amused tone.  
  
"About what?" Mulder asked, his face scrunching up.  
  
"Our wedding," she informed. He gave a large, broad-toothed grin.  
  
"Tomorrow or whenever they let you out of the hospital."  
  
"Good."  
  
Scully and Mulder sat there, in that comforting embrace, for a few more minutes before Mulder decided to go outside and talk to the attending. He wanted to make wedding arrangements then, but he decided it was a bit too straightforward and quick. This would be the wedding of a lifetime because it was theirs. 


End file.
